Local defensive linemen emerging as nation’s top prospects
January 29, 2018
Sophomore standouts
Former South Carolina quarterback Erik Kimrey has two of the top in-state prospects from the Class of 2020 playing for him at Hammond School. In fact, Jordan Burch and Alex Huntley are among the best two sophomores in the country, not just the state of South Carolina.
“They’re wonderful kids. They’re both hard workers. They have great character,” Kimrey said. “There are zero issues, in terms of that stuff, or they wouldn’t be here, to be honest with you. We don’t take kids who have question marks like that.”
Huntley, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound defensive tackle, grew up near Washington, D.C., before his family moved to the Columbia area three years ago.
Burch (6-5, 255) is originally from Florence, S.C. He attended to Wilson High School as a freshman, where he was teammates with 5-star defensive end Xavier Thomas.
The tackle
Huntley, who’s a “great lacrosse player,” played some tight end last season, too.
“Great kid, hardest worker on the team. He’s working out five days a week right now. This is what he wants to do,” Kimrey said.
South Carolina, Georgia and Georgia State have offered.
The Gamecocks were first.
“It was something crazy,” Huntley said, “Because at that time, it was coming near the end of ninth grade year and I had one goal, that was obviously to better myself in the weight room and on the track, but I really was just trying to get some looks by some colleges.
“And so when that offer came, it was just great. One, because it was showing that, hey, someone out there sees and also, because it’s USC and it’s so close. It was great, especially just the first one. It was a good feeling.”
Last fall, Huntley went to three South Carolina games, two at Clemson and another at Georgia.
“I’ve always loved USC games, because the fans up there are just so excited and hype, so I’ve always loved those USC games,” he said.
Huntley also watched one of the Gamecocks’ bowl practices.
“It was good, because I didn’t really know how practices went at colleges and how they would do them,” he said. “It was good seeing how my practices compare to theirs and they worked, so it was fun.”
This spring/summer, Huntley plans to visit the schools that have offered, but he’s also looking to venture out to programs in other parts of the country, such as Ohio State and Texas A&M.
January 29, 2018
Sophomore standouts
Former South Carolina quarterback Erik Kimrey has two of the top in-state prospects from the Class of 2020 playing for him at Hammond School. In fact, Jordan Burch and Alex Huntley are among the best two sophomores in the country, not just the state of South Carolina.
“They’re wonderful kids. They’re both hard workers. They have great character,” Kimrey said. “There are zero issues, in terms of that stuff, or they wouldn’t be here, to be honest with you. We don’t take kids who have question marks like that.”
Huntley, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound defensive tackle, grew up near Washington, D.C., before his family moved to the Columbia area three years ago.
Burch (6-5, 255) is originally from Florence, S.C. He attended to Wilson High School as a freshman, where he was teammates with 5-star defensive end Xavier Thomas.
The tackle
Huntley, who’s a “great lacrosse player,” played some tight end last season, too.
“Great kid, hardest worker on the team. He’s working out five days a week right now. This is what he wants to do,” Kimrey said.
South Carolina, Georgia and Georgia State have offered.
The Gamecocks were first.
“It was something crazy,” Huntley said, “Because at that time, it was coming near the end of ninth grade year and I had one goal, that was obviously to better myself in the weight room and on the track, but I really was just trying to get some looks by some colleges.
“And so when that offer came, it was just great. One, because it was showing that, hey, someone out there sees and also, because it’s USC and it’s so close. It was great, especially just the first one. It was a good feeling.”
Last fall, Huntley went to three South Carolina games, two at Clemson and another at Georgia.
“I’ve always loved USC games, because the fans up there are just so excited and hype, so I’ve always loved those USC games,” he said.
Huntley also watched one of the Gamecocks’ bowl practices.
“It was good, because I didn’t really know how practices went at colleges and how they would do them,” he said. “It was good seeing how my practices compare to theirs and they worked, so it was fun.”
This spring/summer, Huntley plans to visit the schools that have offered, but he’s also looking to venture out to programs in other parts of the country, such as Ohio State and Texas A&M.